Back on vanco, bleeding continues

[poppy86]

I'm feeling really troubled. I was diagnosed with c.diff in late March, did 2 weeks on vancomycin, then relapsed five days later. Now I'm back on vanco and will be doing a taper. So, yesterday I talked to my doctor and mentioned I still have some blood in my BMs and when I wipe. He told me it should go away as I heal, it's just inflammation in my colon.

Today I passed some more blood when I went to the bathroom this morning, and it just stresses me out a lot. I don't know what to think. I want to get better.

[georgina]

It could be hemorrhoids or a anal fissure but you need to be checked by a proctologist .

[poppy86]

My doctor is a gastroenterologist, and he's the one treating me for the c.diff. The office is only doing telemedicine visits for now due to covid.

[Ali-Mar]

Sorry to hear you have to go though this and hope we all will get better soon. if it is a light color blood on the tissue probably it is hemorrhoids or fissure as Georgina mentioned

[Ril]

There is nothing urgent about it or the dr would have done something immediately. Red blood is usually hemorrhoids or a fissure as Georgina said, and after the frequency of BMs with c diff, hemorrhoids are not unusual. They can be internal as well as external. I would listen to the dr and give it time, and you can get back to him if it persists. It is not a sign of a c diff recurrence.

[poppy86]

Thank you for your replies georgina, Ali-Mar, and Ril. My doctor isn't concerned, so I will try not to worry as well. I spoke to him again today. The bleeding is intermittent, sometimes there is some, sometimes there is none at all.

I'm on day 8 of vanco right now. My BMs are erratic, sometimes solid, sometimes more in pieces/mushy. Is this normal on vanco? Yesterday I went 4 times, and today twice so far. Occasionally I also have a lot of gas as well. I assume this is all a normal part of recovery.

[poppy86]

I also frequently have this vague sense of needing to go to the bathroom, like I could go almost any time. It's called tenesmus, right? I really hope this goes away soon. All of this is so stressful. I wish all of us who are dealing with this a full recovery.

[Ali-Mar]

Yes, I think it is called tenesmus , I used to have it every day all day post Vanco, now I am 33 days post Vanco, and the tenesmus is getting less. I still get it, but it is about 50% improved. I have learned some food makes it worse in my case, such as corn baked Tortillas chips or a tangerine

[poppy86]

I'm glad to hear it's been improving for you, I hope it goes away soon. I just had a mushy BM and it worries me, I really want things to stay solid. But I have heard that vanco itself can loosen things up.

[D1dad]

I didn’t go back and read your case and all your symptoms, but if yours was like mine then it may be awhile. If you crapped out a piece of gum you swallowed in the 6th grade with enough force to dent a car door like most while you were sick. Your gonna bleed. It freaked me out to. Dark red, no rhyme or reason, here one day and gone the next.

[poppy86]

Enough force to dent a car door, sounds about right lol. I'll try to be patient with the recovery process, it helps to know I'm not alone.

[georgina]

Tenesmus can also be a sign of inflamed hemorrhoids. I was cleared for Cdiff since august 2018 after i had my FMT , however i continued to have GI issues and also the dreaded tenesmus that was only getting worse (in a few months it turned into pain , literally a real pain in my a..) despite the negative GDH results . Turned out that the pudendal nerve was irritated because of rectovaginal endometriosis.As you can see , tenesmus is not a Cdiff sign.

[poppy86]

Thank you for explaining that georgina, a lot of this is very new to me. I'm on day 9 of vanco now (second course) and going 3-4 times a day. Is this normal? I already went 3 times this morning. I'm not sure if the frequency is supposed to decrease to 1-2 times a day, or if it varies based on what you eat etc.

[D1dad]

I can’t comment on vanco because I couldn’t get anyone to prescribe it. But for a few months my body wouldn’t absorb anything and I went more than usual. The best advice I can give is think back to how sick you were and why that caused you to seek medical treatment and if your heading that way again. It was really rough for awhile and I relapsed a few days after the first round of metro. After the second, things were really off but I never went back to that dark place. Now over a year later everything is exactly the way it used to be. You’ll get there, it’s just gonna take time and a tough mind.